Cloth finishing clamp



May 21, 1946. p. M MCSPADDEN ET AL CLOTH FINISHING CLAMP Filed Aug. 9, 1944 Patented May 21, 1946 time OFFICE Y CLOTH FiNIsI-IING CLAMP Donovan M.

McSpadden and James Cook,

Charlotte, N. C.

Application August 9, 1944, Serial No. 548,742

1 Claim. (Cl. 68--235) This invention relates to a clamp adapted to be placed on the edge of cloth during a 'finishing process for causing a turned in or folded selvage edge to oe straightened out to normal position.

Very often in finishing machinery, such as bleaching, dyeing, and other finishing processes, the cloth as it is brought from one machine to another, passes between various rolls, bars, and the like. Since this cloth in bleaching and dyeing, and other finishing processes is usually in a moist or wet condition, it is very easy for the selvages to, while travelling, get against some fixed object which will cause its selvage to turn under and be doubled. It is very desirable that this be straightened back out so that in the future finishing or treating processes, the cloth will be perfectly smooth from one edge to another.

It is an object of this invention to provide a clamp or clip adapted to be inserted over the selvage edge at the beginning portion of the doubled or turned in portion, so that this clamp can pass through the succeeding finishing processes, such as between rollers, bars, and the like without becoming displaced, and the clamp holding the outturned folded portion of the selvage edge at its beginning portion will cause the rollers, bars, and 'the like with which the cloth thereafter comes in contact, to straighten out this inturned selvage edge for its entire length to its original position.

It is another object of this invention to provide means adapted to be placed on the edge of a piece of cloth while travelling from one machine to another or through a machine during a finishing process, and at the beginning end of a doubled selvage portion, to cause this doubled selvage portion to be straightenedout to single ply or original position by passing through the succeeding operations,

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan View showing a piece of cloth passing between a pair of rollers and the like;

Figure 2 is an elevation of Figure l, looking at the lower edge of Figure 1; i

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the lower central portion of Figure 1 on a greatly enlarged scale;

Figure Il is a top plan View of the clip or clamp showing it disassoclated from the edge of the' cloth;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 3, on an enlarged scale;

Figure 6 is an end view of the clamp taken along the line -I in Figure 4Q Referring more specifically to the drawing, the numeral IB indicates a piece of Vcloth travelling from one machine to another or from one part of a machine to vanother part 'of the same machine during a `finishing process, where it will be engaged. by rollers, bars, and the like. In the drawing, there is shown a pair of rollers II and I2 betweenwhich the cloth is passing. This cloth very often has an inturned edge '2i vwhich it is desirous to turn outwardly to cause the cloth to occupy a pianular position throughout its width.

The invention provides a clamp or clipV I5 made of some resilient material such as wood, plastic, and the like, and having a pair of slots I6 and Il out therein for a major portion of its length. The material out of which member I5 is made is resilient so that the tongues formed by the cutting of the slots I6 and Il can be flexed laterally. By the cutting of the slots, a central prong I8 is formed, and outer prongs I9 and 2l) are also formed. It is therefore seen that prongs I9 and 2o can be raised upwardly at their free end and prong i3 be pressed downwardly or hooked underneath the edge of the selvage after the folded portion 2i has been turned outwardly near its beginning portion, and with the prong I8 resting on top on one side of the cloth, and prongs I9 and 20 resting on the other side, the outturned folded selvage portion is held in outturned position, so that as the cloth travels between rollers, bars, and the like, the inturned selvage portion 2l will be automatically folded outwardly as the cloth progresses through the machine.

By making the clamp I5 out of wood, plastic, or other suitable material, the rollers in the machine and other parts through which the cloth passes will not be damaged in any way by the presence of the thin clamp member thereon, but it will serve the purpose to straighten out the folded selvage edge, and can be inserted very quickly while the ycloth is moving through the machine without anystoppage whatever of the machine by the operator merely seizing the edge of the cloth and turning the selvage outwardly near its beginning end and inserting with the other hand the tongue portion I8 above or below the fabric and slidingv the clamp over the fabric to the position shown in Figure 1, and of course, the other tongues I9 and 20 will appear on the other side of the fabric to thus clampingly engage the fabric, and to hold the outturned portion of the inturned selvage in the position shown in Figure 3, so that the remaining portion of the inturned or doubled selvage portion will be automatically straightened out as the cloth progresses through the machine by contact with rollers and the like in its progress through the machine.

In the drawing, the inturned or doubled selvage portion is seen as being folded upwardly on the top side of theccfabric, but it is of course quite evident that the clamp will work equally as well if the inturned selvage should be folded underneath the fabric, as all there is to do is to turn the beginning portion of the selvage outwardly as shown in Figure 3, and insert the clamp member to the position shown in Figures 1 and 3. If desired, the tongue I8 can be placed beneath the cloth and, tongues I9 and 20 on the top surface of the cloth. y

In the drawing, the dotted line 25 indicates the normal position which the outer edge of the cloth or selvage of the cloth should occupy. The line 26 indicates the foldV line of the cloth when the selvage portion is folded inwardly, and the Vline 2 indicates the edge of the cloth whether it be turned outwardly or inwardly. Line 26 is extended Vin the dotted manner at the righthand end of Figure 3 showing the crease line which was formed by the selvage before the beginning portion of the selvage was turned outwardly to normal position for insertion of the clamp.

In the drawing and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the in- Vention, and although specic terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for the purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claim.

We claim:

A clamp for use in cloth nishing machinery comprising a flexible elongated planar member of less hardness than the rolls in said cloth nishing machinery so it can be carried along by the cloth between the rolls without damaging the rolls between which the cloth is passed, said member having a pair of narrow slots spaced from each other and extending longitudinally of the member from one end of the member and stopping short of the other end of the member, thus providing a central prong and two outer prongs, the central prong being adapted to be ilexed laterally to pass on one side of the cloth and the other prongs passed onto the other side or the cloth to thus hold in outturn'ed position the edge portion of the cloth which has been folded inwardly onto the cloth in a previous operation. Y

DONOVAN M. MCSPADDEN.

JAMES COOK. 

